Drive for pumps



April 1948- H. L. POSTON DRIVE r'oli PUMPS Filed April 22, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. osdo'rz,

A'ITD R N EYS April 13,1948.

H. L. PosToN 2,439,693

DRIVE FOR PUMPS Filed A ril 22. 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. l e/159 254; f oSZflZZ,

Patented Apr. 13, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Herbert L.Bostoi1, Kalispell; Mont. Application April 22, 1944, Serial No. 532,308

:2:Cl,aims. (01. 74-408) Thisinvention relates-'to-pumps and more par ticularly to a driving mechanism for a pump. At the present time many mines must have water pumped from them to prevent flooding. There are many air and electrically driven pumps designed for use-in mine shafts but they are very expensive and roadconditions make it a extremely diflicult to transport "the pumps to a mine. Therefore it is one object of the invention to provide a pump having operating mechanism of such construction that it may be conveniently transported to a mine and set up for use.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a 'pump drive wherein thepumpmay be located at a suitable depth within a mine shaft and operated from -mechanism mounted at the top of the shaft, motion being transmitted from the mechanism at the top-oi the shaft to the pump by-cables extending vertically-in the shaft and of such 'length that the pump maybe shifted vertically to an adjustedpositionif foundnecessary.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pump driving mechanism wherein use of'heavy rods extending verticallyin the mine-shaft will be eliminated and cables which are strong but 01' light weight used instead.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ump drive wherein the pumpmay be operatively connected with a walking beam mounted in the mine shaft,the walking beam being operated from mechanism at the top of the'mine shaft by cables also extending vertically in the mine shaft. It will thus "be seenthat the cables may be of such length that strain upon the cables due to their own weight'will be eliminated and. snapping ofthecablesdue to excess strain will not occur.

Another object; of-the invention is to provide a pump and drive mechanism which is simple in construction, efiicient in operation, and not liable to get. out of order when in use.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a view showing the improved pump operating mechanism partially in vertical sec tion and partially in side elevation.

Figure-2 is an end-elevation of the drive mechanism shownin Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a pump which is disposed in a well and operated from the drive mechanism of Figure 1.

may besubstituted in place of the pump shown Figure 4 is a view looking from the right of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a pump which inFigures 3 and 4. Figure 6 is a top planviewof in Figure 5.

Figure Tis a side elevation of anotherform-oi pump which may be used with the improved driving mechanism. f

Figure 8 is a top 'planview of the pump shown in Figure 7.

the pump shown This improved pump consists briefly of a pump mounted within a mine shaft at a desired depth and operating mechanism mounted at the top of the shaft and connected with the pump by cables extending vertically in the shaft. By this arrangement of parts the pump may be located at any desired depth in the mine shaft and operated by cables instead of by heavy pump rods and the driving mechanism may be mounted'at the top of the shaft and. actuated from a jack located in a convenient position to one side of the mine shaft. It will also be noted that the pump and the driving mechanism will be independent units of lightweight and compact construction and capable of being readily transported to the mine and installed for use.

The driving mechanism which is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 has a walking beam Iconsisting of side plates 2 formed of strong metal. The side plates of thewalking beam are substantially semi-circular'in shape and are mounted upon a pin or axle -3 carried by supporting members 4 which are disposedupright upon beams 5 which extend across the mouth-of the mineshaft and rest upon the ground. Arms 5 extend upwardly from the side plates of the walking beam and extend towardseach other, as shown in "Figure 2, with their upper ends disposed in spaced parallel relation to each other and formedwith vertically spaced openingsto receivea pin I by means of which apump jack arm 3 is connected with the armsB. By providing a plurality of openings in the arms 6 the pump jack arm may be vertically adjusted and predetermined leverage applied to the walking beam. The side plates! of the walking beam carry pins or axles 9 rotatably mounting sheaves or pulleys l0 and the side plates also carry bearings H through which is rotatably mounted a shaft 12 carrying drums [3 upon which cables I iandwound. These cables are passed upwardly from the drums and after being engaged with the sheaves Ii] extend downwardly therefrom, the cables being of such length that they will extend downardly into the mine shaft the desired distance. A worm I6 is 'fixed to the shaft l1 and meshes with a worm gear 15 carried by shaft l2. This shaft H extends transversely between the side plates near one end of the walking beam and is journaled through the side plates with one end carrying a crank I8 by means of which the shaft may be turned and rotary motion imparted to shaft I2 so that slack will be removed from the cables after the cables have been attached to the pump in the mine shaft. When the pump drive is in operation the walking beam is rocked upon pin 3 with an oscillating movement so that its ends are alternately raised and lowered and as each end of the walking beam is raised it exerts pull upon the cable extending downwardly therefrom while the other cable is slackened.

The pump which is mounted in the mine shaft is operated from the drive mechanism through the medium of the cables l4. Such a pump is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 and has cylinders l9 carried by a supporting plate which may be mounted vertically in the mine shaft in any desired manner and at a desired depth above water or below the surface or water in the mine. Inlet pipes 2| are connected with a pipe 22 by a coupling 23, the pipe 22 being of sufficient length to extend downwardly to a predetermined depth in the mine shaft. The outlet pipes 24 are connected by a coupling 25 with a pipe 26 which projects upwardly and is of sufficient length to reach the top of the mine shaft and discharge water out of the mine shaft.

The pump cylinders may be of any desired length and diameter and within each is a piston having a piston shaft 2 which extends upwardly and at its upper end is connected with a plate 28. The plates 28 are slidably mounted upon guide rods 2i! carried by brackets 3d projecting from plate 2|] and near the upper end of the plate 28 is pivotally mounted a walking beam having its ends pivotally connected with links 32 which extend downwardly therefrom and at their lower ends are pivoted to the plates 25. Lower ends of the cables [4 are attached to upper ends of the links 32 and as the walking beam 2 of the driving mechanism at the top of the mine shaft is rocked about its pivot 8 rocking motion will be imparted to the walking beam 31' and the links moved to reciprocate the piston rods 27 vertically and actuate the pumps l9. As each piston rod moves upwardly the other moves downwardly and water will thus be alternately discharged from the pumps and a continuous flow of water forced upwardly through the discharge pipe 25 and out through the top of the mine shaft.

Instead of the pump shown in Figures 3 and 4, a pump of the construction shown in Figures 5 and 6 may be used. This pump has horizontal cylinders 33 which are mounted upon a support 34. A guide or track 35 extends along the support or base between the pumps 33 and carries a rack bar 36 to ends of which piston rods 3? of the pumps are attached so thatwhen the rack bar is shifted longitudinally the pumps will alternately discharge water into a discharge pipe extending out of the mine shaft. The rack bar is shifted longitudinally back and forth by a segmental gear 38 which takes the place of a walking beam and is pivotally mounted between supports 39 by a shaft or axle 49 carried by and extending between the supports. The operation of this form of pump will be readily understood by an inspection of Figure 5 and referring to this figure it will be seen that as the cables are pulled by the mechanism of Figures 1 and 2 at the top of the mine shaft, the segmental gear or walking gear will reciprocate the rack bar and the pumps 33 will be operated to alternately discharge water.

In Figures 7 and 8 another modified form of pump mechanism has been illustrated. In this form of pump mechanism the pumps 4| are disposed vertically near opposite side edges of a mounting plate 42 with their piston rods 43 extending upwardly and attached to rack bars 44 which shift vertically along guiding strips 45 carried by plate 42. The rack bars 45 mesh with a gear or pinion 46 which is rotatably mounted by a stem 41 projecting from the plate 42 and the two rack bars caused to move together when either is drawn upwardly by the cable l4 attached to itsupper end. Therefore the two pumps will be simultaneously operated and alternately discharge water into a pipe leading to the topof the mine shaft.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: Y I 1. A drive mechanism comprising a base, supports extending upwardly from said base in transverse spaced relation to each other, a shaft extending between and carried by said supports, a walking beam between said supports consisting of side plates pivotally mounted by said shaft and spaced transversely from each other, bearings between said side plates, a shaft rotatably mounted through said bearings and extending longitudi nally of the walking beam, drum carried by said rotatable shaft, pulleys rotatably mounted'between said side plates near opposite ends of the walking beam and disposed above said drums, and

cables wound upon said drums and extending upwardly therefrom and trained about said pulleys and then extending downwardly for connection with two pivotally connected reciprocating mechanisms.

2. A drive mechanism comprising a base, supporting means carried by said base, a walking beam pivotally carried by said supporting-means, a shaft rotatably caried by said walking beam and extending longitudinally thereof, drums carried by said shaft, guides carried by said walking beam near ends thereof, cables woundupon said drums and extending upwardly therefrom for engagement with said guides and then downwardly, supported guides, plates slidable along said guides, piston rods connected to said plates, links having their ends pivotally connected to said plates, and an intermediately pivoted rocking armjpivotally connected tothe ends of the links and said cables connected to the ends of the links.

- HERBERT L. POSTON.

REFERENCES CITED 1 The following references are of record in'. the

file .of this patent:

McKissick Oct. 13, 1925 

